Hoenn's Stars
by LinkinKnight
Summary: Three new trainers take on the Hoenn Region' Pokémon League, aiming to be Champions. However, can they get through new friends, rivalries, new feelings and the threat of team DNA? Read to find out.


"Welcome to a different world, much like the one we know, but also very different. Here are creatures with amazing powers that live and grow alongside humans as allies, friends, and partners. Prepare to enter to the world of Pokémon"

During the last years the rules of training changed fast. Now there was a minimal age of fifteen before being able to go on a journey as a trainer or coordinator and even then they are required to give a written and medical test for obtaining your license. Although you can have Pokémon without the license, you would not be able to participate in any official event or in public battles. Aside from that, there has been a major growth in the Battle Theme Parks, in number and in quality; also the Gym Leaders had become tougher, being a greater challenge to enter the league. This is the story of the new heroes, ready to take a shot at greatness, taking on even the greatest of evils.

Goldenrod City, Johto.

A man was talking by an Xtransceiver on his hand. He was a rather dark skinned man, of about 6 feet, maybe a little more; he is balding even if he has some black hair left. His green eyes were covered with glasses and his burly body was covered by a formal suit.

"So the deal is still on, right?" He said to a friend.

"_Yeah, I am going to make some money with Silph Co."_ His friend said, and then a buzzer went off. _"Sorry, Roger. Got to go, bye"_ With that he ended communications. Roger pressed a couple of buttons and decided to make a call.

"Hi, Johanna, how is Tom?" An old woman, maybe in her late sixties, with curly black hair, wrinkled face toasted by the sun and dark eyes that had seen a lot of life.

"_We decided to go and see some Pokem'n in the route" _That turned on some alarms on Roger's head, so he said a quick good bye and called a trusted trainer.

"Hello, John" This time he called his son, a man in his early twenties, with long brown hair, fair skin and brown eyes. A gray and black sweater was visible over his lean body and a black and golden guitar was hanging from his shoulder. He was a famous trainer, John Bloom from Goldenrod City, due to face the Kanto Elite Four two weeks from now. Right now he was training for it at home, and worked at teaching his little brother Tom several things he learned of his trip.

"Hi dad. Didn't expect your call" John said casually, he sounded tired; his training was harsh on him and his team. Venasaur (Saur), Dodrio (Duos), Primeape (Ares), Starmie (Crystal), Tauros (Thrust) and Rapidash (Steed), all of them trained for a long time and raised to be as strong as possible. Not even trainers like Cynthia could take him lightly.

"Yes, I wanted you to check on Tommy. He went with Johanna to Route 35, but decided to go on his own and I don't want him to do anything dangerous" John nodded.

"_Leave it to me. He won't do anything he shouldn't do" _With that he cut communications, called his team back to his pokeballs and went inside his parent's house, where he always has a room ready for him.

John entered to his room, checking his black and red backpack, checking his supplies, when he noticed something. He had some missing pokeballs, four to be exact. That could only mean one thing.

_Tom planned to do something dumb_. Without thinking it much he got out of the house, pulled a pokeball out and threw it creating a white flash which formed a 5'11, tri-headed, long necked and long legged, wingless brown bird.

"Duos, let's move" The bird nodded its three heads and kneeled for John to sit on its back. Even if it was a 5'11 bird carrying a 6'3 man Duos managed to run fast without trouble. It jumped on the air, reaching the building of a house next door and then to a higher one and managed to jump over a skyscraper.

A couple of blocks away.

"Go north, onwards to route 35" The middle head nodded while the other two looked around, trying to find north.

Route 35…

A kid was crawling in the ground. His clear clothes were getting dirty, his brown hair was full of leaves and branches, his brown eyes were taking everything in, trying to see a possible capture. He had just escaped his babysitter, an old, short lady although with a trusty Mamoswine with a great nose. He felt sorry for Johanna, but this idea was, according to him, too good for him to pass up, although anyone more mature would disagree, but hey, he was just eight. The rustling manages to catch his attention and he turns to see a 2 feet orange, black stripped dog with blond hair in its head and chest. It looked rather beaten up, an easy catch.

"A Growlithe and it looks worn down. Perfect" He whispered, pulling a small red and white ball from his pocket. He pressed the button on the center and the ball grew, fitting his hand.

"Growlithe, you are mine" He prepared himself to throw, but noticed how scared the little dog was. A snarl pulled him out of his thoughts. He found himself staring at four black horned dog-like animals, all of them glaring at him with their red and yellow eyes. Tom let the ball fall to the floor and started to run away, not knowing that the fire-type was running behind him. They hadn't managed to get too far before the Houndoom launched fire streams from their snouts, which they barely avoided. One of the Houndooms ran to them and bit Tom on the leg, causing him to scream in pain.

Tom saw the fire type fallen next to him and knew it would not get out of this on one piece if it fought. He had to help him (Yes, it is a male), so Tom slid a pokeball toward the Growlithe, which was absorbed by the red light without fight. He tried to get up and run away, but stopped when the injury made itself known, making him clench his teeth as to not to scream. He managed to open one eye, seeing a white blur jump over him.

"Ares, Cross Chop" A white haired puff-ball with brown pig-like nose, arms and legs with steel bracelets around wrists and ankles jumped over the hounds, with its arms raised and glowing, it struck one, hurting it badly. After that, the monkey was joined by a purple star with other star on its back, and it had a red crystal on its center. And a brown bull with three tails.

"Crystal, Hydro Pump, Thrust, use Stone Edge" A strong stream of water came from the star, hitting other dark/fire-type hard enough to knock it away. Then the bull stomped the ground, making sharp rocks pop up from under the third hound, hurting it but not bad enough to not let it run. After giving a look at the three Pokémon and their trainer, a man mounting a Dodrio, they started to flee, leaving the kid alone. The fuzz ball tried to chase after them but it was called back by a red light.

_A Primeape, a Starmie and a Tauros are here. Johnny..._

John looked at the little boy with a frown. He knew his brother would have gotten in trouble as soon as he saw his poke balls missing but this was too much for him to believe it. Tom crawled to the ball and picked it up.

"I caught a Growlithe!" He said and laughed weakly in celebration. He stopped when he saw his brother standing over him.

"I am in trouble, am I not?" He said weakly.

A year later, the Bloom family sans John moved to Littleroot Town, in the region of Hoenn due to Tom's parents getting a job as lawyers in the region, including doing legal work for Devon, the local mega corporation. Tom met several kids that became his friends; two of them in particular stand out.

Seven years later...

It was the Final of the Pokémon League. On a Rock field, two trainers were going at it. It was obvious that it was going to finish soon looking by the state of both Pokémon on the field, the last remaining ones. One, in the green was a big blue walrus-like Pokémon. It was controlled by a girl, of eighteen at most, she was shrouded by shadow, the only features visible were a rather long red hair and an apparently summer clothes, even though it's winter in the battlefields gets quite hot. On the red corner there was a black mummy-like Cyclops Pokémon. Its Trainer, a stoic looking man with glasses in formal clothes was glaring at the field.

"Walrein, Blizzard" The Water/Ice type sent a powerful gust of cold air towards the ghost, freezing everything on its path.

"Dusclops, get out of there and use Shadow Ball" The Ghost type jumped high on the air, taking on just a part of the attack, freezing its feet, and charged a black ball on its hands, and sent it to Walrein hitting it dead on. The green corner fighter was staggering; it was just a rather weak hit away from fainting while Dusclops landed, but it slipped due to all the ice, struggling to get up.

"Water pulse" Walrein formed a water ring and...

-BZZT-

"HEY!" A young voice said, protesting at someone on the back of the room. Thomas Bloom has grown into a fine young man, pushing 5'9, maybe 5'10; his brown hair was a lot longer now, nearly reaching his brown eyes, covered by a pair of glasses, he still was light skinned, his skinny frame was covered by a white jacket, a blue t-shirt peeking through, dark blue jeans, black running shoes. On his neck a pokeball was hanging from a necklace.

"You got to go to sleep. Tomorrow you get the result of the exams you took for the Trainer license" His mother, a woman in her mid-40's, with long brown hair on her head, her skin was light, through her face was blushed. She was a lot shorter than her son, being only 5'5 with luck, though they shared the same brown eyes and hair, the looks were very different as she was somewhat more robust. She was wearing yellow blazer and black pants. She turned and walked away, but stopped when she remembered something.

"Oh, and before I forget, Maya called. She said Mr. Birch will give you something if you get the license" Tom perked up at that. Maya was a girl, older than him for a few months and one of his best friends and information source for his parents.

"Really, did she mention what it was?" Tom asked, thinking of the possibilities. Maybe the professor decided to give him a Pokedex and maybe a starter Pokémon. He only had one Pokémon, his Growlithe Cain. Maya and his other friend Paul both were in a similar standing, a Ralts and an Elekid respectively.

"No, but you three gave the exam and most likely passed so don't push your luck. Again" Tom blushed at that. When it was Exam day, about three weeks ago, he was almost late and nearly twisted his ankle on the road, among other things that happened, including a Taillow attack due to him knocking its nest and repeated apologies to a kid whose skate he stole (it was given back of course). Paul used a big deal of time teasing him for that.

"Yes, mom" He said walking out. He knew he could never win an argument with her.

The next morning…

_Freaking Z-Comm, it just had to ring in the worst possible moment and makes me get chased by angry Beedrills _Tom thought angrily as he ran from the swarm Paul summoned accidentally. The three of them approved the exam without trouble, and they decided to go and see the Professor later. Paul just called to check on his results, at about the same time he passed by some trees on the outskirts of the town, the giant wasp Pokémon were chasing him, its spear-like arms glowing menacingly. Tom reached out for his necklace and pulled his one pokeball.

"Cain, stand strong!" He cried. His Growlithe came out on a white light, growling to the dozen or so Beedrills.

"Use Ember on them" Cain shot several small fireballs from his mouth to the Bug types, hitting them as they got close to them. One of them managed to dodge the attack and flew up, its stings glowing. As soon as it was in range it started to hit Cain repeatedly. Tom recognized it as a Fury Attack; it could get ugly if it continued, even with Cain's intimidate ability.

"Cain, Bite it and send it away" Cain took a bite to the sting as it went for another swing. Growlithe then spun, before throwing it away. It fell hard to the floor, and with another Ember hit it joined its companion's unconscious bodies on the floor.

"You ok, buddy?" Tom asks, kneeling to get closer to the dog Pokémon.

"(Yeah, I'm good)" Cain barked. Tom patted its head, congratulating his partner for the job well done. They kept walking together, looking at the Pokémon they came across. Tom pressed a button from the device in his wrist and called his friend and after cursing him for nearly sending him to the hospital or an early grave, he asked what did the Prof. Want.

"_We are going. We are waiting for you to get here" _The other teenager said. _"Hurry up, both me and Maya are here" _With that, he hung up. Not even a good bye, typical Paul. Tom picked Cain up and started running before he realized… he was lost. One loud curse (and a protest from a scared Cain) later, he decided to call Maya, his "Get Out Of Jail Free" Card.

"Hi, Maya. I am kinda lost. Could you please appear around here and pick me up?" He trailed off, embarrassed at the problem. Maya just laughed and told him to wait there and she hung up. Tom just sat there waiting for someone to appear out of thin air.

And that wasn't a metaphor.

He pulled a card out of his pocket and stared at it for a second. His trainer license, coming on the mail this morning with all of the important information about him. With it, his life was going to change radically. Tom and Cain started imagining themselves, standing proudly and raising the Hoenn League Trophy in front of a cheering public. _I will win it. Just you wait._

He felt a weird headache and blacked out for a second but before Cain could ask anything a weird light started to shine in the air forming a human shape. Two beings appeared. One of them was a girl. She was 5'3; she had long black hair in a ponytail, glowing green eyes and peachy skin. Her body was nicely curvy and she was wearing a white top, a green jacket, blue jeans and white running shoes. Next to her was a white, small being with a green helmet and red horns poking through it. Maya Starling and Emma her Ralts arrived.

"You know, I don't really mind the emotion-reading trick. But it would be nice if I didn't black out any time you do that" Tom commented as he kissed her in the cheek hello and Cain licked Emma.

"Hello to you too and sorry about that but I was in a hurry to find you. Shall we?" Tom called Cain back to his ball and nodded to Maya. She gave a sign to Emma for it to teleport again.

They both appeared in a clear path, another young man waited there. He was a bit shorter than Tom, had long, thick black hair, dark skin, brown eyes that looked inexpressive. His body was thin, and was wearing a black undone shirt, a red t-shirt, light jeans and white running shoes.

"About time, you idiot. I was going to ditch you guys and go there by myself" Paul jested. This earned him a slap on the head courtesy of Maya.

"Don't say such things you jackass" Tom chuckled as Paul rubbed his head.

"Okay, lovebirds let's get going" Tom joked as he took the lead and started to walk. The blushing and protesting duo started following him uphill. They started a conversation about the exams and how they planned to make their journey as trainers. Paul got angry at having scored only 67, enough to pass but mediocre in general terms, especially when he bragged about perfect scores, Tom got 84 points, but he didn't care about the score as long as he passed and Maya scored 96, nearly perfect and she took the chance to gloat a bit. Tom just waved it off.

"You can always try and beat us at the league or at any other time. But it won't happen since I am going to kick your butts all over the place" He boasted, puffing his chest in mock pride.

"Like that's gonna happen, you two boys will be lying at my feet once I'm done with you" Maya countered, joining to the game. Paul was about to pull out his own boast but something started bothering him as they got close to the lab.

The prof. was off, possibly getting into trouble with the Poochyenas again, but the door was open but it seemed to have been forced. Tom and Paul exchanged a look before entering. The place looked messy, it hasn't been particularly neat before but this looks really bad. They saw three people working on a computer, without permission the kids assumed. Now, how to get them away from Professor Birch's investigation without getting in a giant mess?

"Hey, you! What the hell are you doing!" Tom yelled.

… That was not a good idea by any standard. Paul and Maya would have face-palmed in a less serious situation, but right now they could barely breathe. Tom's IQ always seems to fluctuate between near genius and complete moron. It's just their luck that he picked the wrong moment to be an idiot.

"What do we have here?" One of them sneered. The kids' hands went instinctively to their belts, as they took in the appearance of the trespassers. They were all taller than them and older too. One of them was a lot more muscular than any of them, making them wonder how they would take them down. Maya tried to pull Emma out before anything happened to her friends but the men moved faster than either of them could react, sending out a purple imp with jewels on its body and sharp teeth, a green mantis/raptor hybrid and a purple cat-like being with a feather coming of the top of the head and sharp claws.

Tom could finally make out their clothes; it looked like some kind of uniform from a group like Team Rocket. That alone convinced Tom that this meeting was potentially of global importance. They were wearing a red suit with weird green and black highlights along the chest, arms and legs. The chest was adorned with a purple circle and a DNA symbol across it. On their faces there were green masks covering the upper half of their faces.

Suddenly the cat disappeared and while reappearing, it hit Tom in the back of the head, sending him crashing into a desk and knocking several things from inside. As Paul and Maya helped him up, the thieves broke into a run, their Pokémon trailing behind them. Among the things that fell from the desk, there were three Poke balls rolling on the floor. Tom, with a cut on his forehead, staggered to his feet, picked up a random poke ball and a small blue device and went chasing the bandits. Paul followed suit and Maya reluctantly chased after them after picking up the third poke ball, thinking _this can't end well. _

As the young trio chased the criminal trio Paul wondered why this was their trouble. The info was Birch's and they weren't cops so they had no reason to do this.

"Tom, why are we doing this? We aren't cops or anything, so..." Maya was cut off by Tom, who just cleaned off some blood from his face and looked at her.

"Maya, do you recall what the Prof. Told us about his research, something about an alien Pokémon and how it could be mutated and replicated easily?" Maya nodded, uncertain.

"I still remember the stories we heard about Team Magma and Aqua and what happened with the Orb Disaster a few years ago and I ain't going to let something like that happen if I can avoid it" Paul and Maya mentally complained at their friend's hero syndrome, but decided to help. Neither of them wanted a major crisis to happen after all.

"Look, they are splitting up!" Paul shouted. The three of them started running in a different direction, Tom took charge of the situation.

"I'll take the big one, you two follow the others. Call if something happens" Tom ordered. Maya nodded and took off to the right. Paul went left and Tom went straight.

**Paul vs. Team DNA Grunt.**

Paul chased the man to a clearing. Both were panting heavily, Paul more than the man. The man however looked unfazed, stoic. Paul, on the other hand cursed his physical condition and how weak he was. The cat appeared in from of him, both of them were fairly far from him. He knew what he had to do. He pulled his sphere of his belt and threw it out to the air.

"Alec, rock and roll" He said as his little yellow plug-headed friend appeared, striking a fighting pose.

"Kid, kid" It shouted, spinning its arms at high speeds.

"Alec, Thundershock" Alec surged with electricity, sending a small jolt towards the dark dark/ice type moved out of the way and disappeared in a blur. Paul didn't lose sight of its moves and countered.

"Alec, brick break behind you" The Elekid's hand glowed as it spun around, sending a karate chop at the suddenly appearing Sneasel before it struck, creating a hole on the floor and nearly making it faint, however the Sneasel managed to get a hit with its claws, reducing the power of the Brick Break, just enough for the Sharp Claw Pokémon to still be on the fight.

Paul was going to order Alec to finish it but it was struck from behind by a dark sphere, sending it flying. Shocked Paul saw a black sphere with face floating in front of him, the purple aura around it glowing menacingly.

"A Gastly" He noted. Then smirked. "Bastard. You were expecting people chasing you here and you decided your ghost would haunt them away" The man said nothing, frustrating Paul even more. Paul took his new Poke ball and threw it to the air. _I hope you are worth something _He thought as the white light formed an orange chicken-like Pokémon jumping up and down, excited.

"Torchic!" It looked around confused, before its eyes landed on Paul.

"Hi. This is a strange situation, but I need your help to beat this guy and apparently recover info about some alien Pokémon, so let's rock!" The Torchic nodded, and took on a battle ready pose, facing Gastly.

"Alec, knock out Sneasel with thundershock, Torchic turn on the heat!" At the order the chick sent several small fireballs from its mouth to the ghost type, managing an effective direct hit, as the plug head sent a small jolt of electricity to the Dark type, who with its injuries and paralysis due to Alec's Static was too slow to dodge and fell to the ground, with swirls on its eyes and completely out cold.

Gastly sent a black energy beam to the floor, lifting a cloud of dust, blinding both Paul and his Pokémon. Paul called out for them to stay alert, but Torchic took a direct hit from a Night Shade. As it sent an Ember from where the attack came, it hit air as a Shadow Ball hit the Elekid in the back. Paul grunted, the current situation being difficult for the rookie trainer and his two partners. He may have trained with Alec till exhaustion during these years, but he had little to no battle experience aside from fighting Tom and Maya and it's his first time with Torchic. He recalled Alec to his ball. The little buddy had enough for the day.

"Alright, Torchic, spin around while using Ember" Torchic sent several small fireballs in several different directions, hitting several random spots, until it finally hit Gastly with a clean hit, hitting it into fainting.

The Team DNA grunt tried to run away, but he was stopped by a weak jolt of electricity from a released Alec. Thunder Wave.

"Not so fast, you bastard" Paul taunted as he tied the guy up with his own clothes. His electric friend was heard snickering while bragging to his new partner, who jumped up excitedly.

It looked as though the Redfield team was born and growing.

**Maya. **

With the help of her Ralts, she had no trouble finding and cornering her target. However there is a difference between keeping up with your target and actually catching him. Maya figured that out as she dodged a slash from the Scyther that would have cut her head off had she not ducked on time, and now her Ralts used confusion to send it away from Maya, slamming it against the floor on the process.

"Teleport and confusion" Maya ordered, as Emma dodged a Fury Cutter attack by disappearing and appeared on its right before slamming it on the floor with telekinesis. The attack had a fortunate side effect as it made the Scyther act dizzy and stagger.

"Charge Beam, finish it now" Her Ralts started charging electricity on its body and unleashed a concentrated beam hitting the mantis directly on the chest, knocking it out. Just as Maya was going to order the Ralts to use confusion on the trainer, it was hit hard by another Sneasel, managing a critical hit and leaving Emma on the floor, nearly unconscious. Maya pulled her new poke ball and threw to the air, hoping it helped her to survive this battle. Out of it appeared a green gecko-like being with a strong tail, it crossed its arms as it landed on its feet, its arms crossed and a serious expression on its face.

"(Ready)" It said simply. _Not much of a talker, hun?" _Maya thought uneasily, but shook it off and started to think of what to do. As she recalled some of Treecko's attack, the gecko was dodging nimbly the claw attacks from the dark type. _Fast, that gives me an idea._

"Pound, now" The grass type did a back flip, hitting Sneasel on the face with its tail, sending it back. Treecko landed gracefully on its feet, looking ready to go again. _Jackpot _Maya thought. She got a good battler and she knew she would have the Treecko anyway so she is happy with her serious friend. If only it was friendlier…

"Bullet seed, fire!" As soon as Maya said that, the tree gecko jumped in the air and shot small projectiles from its mouth to the Sneasel, which dodged acrobatically until it moved a split second too slow, taking a good chunk of the attack on the face. The Sneasel started slashing at Treecko, managing to score some hits. Maya had a plan, but this was going to hurt if it failed.

"Treecko, use quick attack to lift Sneasel off the ground and Pound while spinning!" Maya already has a rough idea of her new partner's skills and hoped her plan works. Her Pokémon rammed at high speeds against the Sneasel, lifting it off the ground. While they were airborne, Treecko spun and hit the Dark type several times with its tail, causing serious damage. One last hit downed the Sharp Claw Pokémon, knocking it out. Maya used Emma's Confusion to stop the escaping Team DNA grunt, slamming it to the ground until it fell unconscious. Maya took a second to gloat before calling the police and leaving the scene. _Score one for me. _She looked to her two pokeballs. She hoped she could keep Treecko. It proved to be a strong fighter and she hoped she could get green guy could open up.

**Tom**

The tallest boy barely managed to keep the pace with the buffer man, briefly cursing his physical condition as he was simply running on adrenaline. His bleeding stopped so he only kept running without many concerns aside from staying alive and catching this guy before he used Deoxys' information for something disastrous.

He saw the man suddenly stopping, much to his relief, but when it turned, Tom had to dodge the Sableye's attack. In a flash he had his pokeball on hand and threw it to the air.

"Cain, stand strong" With his battle cry, his trusted Growlithe jumped on the battle, growling menacingly to the small imp who simply stood there, teeth bared. Tom hoped Cain has enough fight in him to last this battle. They just fought a dozen Beedrill and one managed some hits. Then there is the second pokeball. Treecko, Torchic or Mudkip. The professor told them about them getting the Hoenn starters and getting a pokedex, but he didn't expect the choice to be random or that their debut with them would be like this. He always knew the day he became a trainer would be memorable, but not this way.

"Cain, use ember" The dog shot fireballs to the ghost, who dived to the side, getting out of the way. It countered with a dark beam, which Cain could barely dodge. Cain got close, managing to connect a bite attack.

"Good job, Cain. Now don't let it go and use Ember" The fire attack got the Sableye good, making a big deal of damage. The Sableye countered with a night shade that the Growlithe barely dodged but it had to jump away and let go of the Sableye's arm. While the both of them kept fighting Tom heard something behind him and had to move out of the way, dodging a dark wave coming from a tree. Tom slid his hand to his pocket, pulling out his second ball.

"Come on out, my new friend" With that the pokeball opened revealing a blue amphibian creature with a fin popping out of its head and orange gills adorned its cheeks. The Pokémon yawned as it appeared, but it suddenly turned battle ready. Tom was surprised about that and pulled the blue device.

_Mudkip, the Mud Fish Pokémon. The fin in Mudkip's head acts like a highly sensitive radar. Using its fins to sense movements in water and air, this Pokémon can determine what is taking place around it without using its eyes. _

_Cool. _He thought.

"Mudkip, use water gun on the tree" And then turning he looked at Cain, who was dodging a flurry of Fury Swipes at the moment "Cain, new attack, Iron Tail" Growlithe spun, its tail glowing white, and it slammed it hard against the Sableye, managing to weaken it a lot. The Mudkip shot a stream of water, hitting a black crow with a witch-like hat. It flew around a bit before a Water gun knocked it down a bit.

"Murkrow, huh? How many dark types do you guys have?" The big man didn't answer and now that Tom thought about it the man hadn't said a word or showed any emotion since the start of the battle. This reeked bad news and the blank stare he was getting only made it worse. But when Tom turned he saw the jewel-eater glowing, its body glowing and the wounds Cain made were disappearing. _Recover, _Tom thought bitterly, _Fan-fucking-tastic. As if my day hasn't been hard enough. _

"Cain, Mudkip, change opponents" Mudkip simply looked at him weird but Growlithe jumped over it, facing the Murkrow, who flew up after being knocked down on the earth. Tom knew that Dark Pulse would be too much for the young water type to handle. Mudkip ran towards the Sableye, who disappeared and tried to bite the mud fish, which dodged it.

"Mudkip, Water Gun" The water type shot a stream of water that hit Sableye in the face. Tom spun and saw Murkrow preparing another attack. Tom recognized it as Dark Pulse. _I didn't want to use this on a battle until we perfected it but _"Cain, Flamethrower!" Tom shouted as Cain unleashed a powerful fire stream from its mouth. The little dog was knocked back by the blast, but managed to keep the aim. The Murkrow shot dark energy waves. Both attacks collided on the air, but after a short struggle the flamethrower overpowered the dark pulse, hitting Murkrow directly, knocking it out and burning a tree on the process. The dog Pokémon went with his trainer, who patted its head before turning to the Mudkip vs Sabeye battle. Mudkip just dodged a swipe from one its paws.

"Mud Slap on its eyes" The mud fish Pokémon slapped some wet ground, hitting the Darkness Pokémon on the face. But to their surprise, it didn't seem fazed.

"Keen Eye" Tom said "Great" But something shiny caught his eye. There was some kind of device on Sableye's ear.

"Mudkip, water gun on the Sableye's ear" The water Pokémon was surprised by that order, but complied. It hit the right side of its head, destroying the device. The Sableye looked around for orders, but didn't get anything. Then it hit Tom. The muscle head wasn't the Pokémon's trainer; someone was controlling them at distance. And the big guy… hypnotized maybe? Tom could not tell but this was a lot bigger than he suspected.

"Mudkip, Water Gun, max power!" This water stream was even stronger than the other ones, hitting it square on the face, slamming it against its "trainer", and sending both of them flying and crashing against a tree. The both of them fainted as they fell down. Tom walked up to Mudkip, kneeled and rubbed its head congratulating it. Cain walked up to them, looking really worn down. Tom picked up his longtime friend and started walking back to the lab.

_That was intense; I didn't expect that thug to be a puppet. Looks like my journey will be a lot crazier than what I expected. _Tom suddenly smelled something burning, he turned and saw fire: the trees were burning! His eyes widened and looked at Mudkip.

"WATER GUN, QUICK!" He screamed. Way to ruin a cool exit.

"(Oops…sorry)" Cain laughed nervously.

Professor Birch's lab

The prof. was pissed; his laboratory was a mess and his investigation stolen. He called the police, but the thieves could be miles away from there by now. The security cameras were destroyed too so he had no idea even how the people looked. That was all he was thinking of when he saw a familiar kid walking to the lab. He was about to ask if something happened when Paul pulled an USB from his pocket and a pokeball from his belt. As Paul was explaining to him what happened, Maya and Tom arrived. Tom smelled like smoke and Maya was checking her hair, which he noted was grazed by some sharp object.

"Sorry about the trouble, but here you have" He pulled a pokeball and the pokedex out of his pockets. Birch simply lifted a hand, rejecting it from it coming back to him. Tom just looked at him confused.

"I waited until today to do it, but I chose you three to give you the PokéDex and the three starters. Of course, I would have you choose in a less crazy way, but what's done is done" Tom gaped at that, Maya beamed at the news and Paul simply smirked, very proud of himself. The three of them cheered and hugged each other. After letting her friends go, Maya threw the Treecko ball to the air, move that was followed by her friends.

"So, should we name them?" Maya asked. Tom looked at Paul, who nodded.

"Ladies first" The black haired boy said. Maya thought for a second and looked at the serious grass type.

"Your new name will be Leaf, do you like it?" She declared and asked. Leaf just looked at her and shrugged. _Whatever._

"Sour puss" Tom laughed then looked at his new friend "Okay buddy, you need a name and I dub you Matt, how about it?" Tom asked. The newly dubbed mud fish smiled and nodded.

"(Nice)" It said. Then it was Paul's energetic Torchic's turn, he kneeled to look at the chick in the eye "You are Tori from now on" This was answered with excited hops from his young fire type. Paul smiled and chuckled a bit. Tom handed their Pokémon to the Professor and, while he took them to be healed, Tom looked at his two friends seriously.

"We need to talk"

Unknown Location

What they didn't pick up was the fact that there were cameras watching the battles the kids had. Three adults, two men and a woman were studying it, taking as much info as they could about the kids. Neither of them were very old, they were 25 at the most, and they wore very different clothes, as they were disguised to get more information. The apparent leader of the bunch, a 6'2 lean and pale man was staring at Tom's screen. His long, light blonde hair was spiky and covered one of his eyes and his red eyes were stuck on the bespectacled trainer. He was wearing a blue police officer suit, which quickly turned into a white bodysuit with a DNA symbol on it. Next to him there was a feral looking Houndoom. The scar under his eye did nothing but make him look more threatening.

The second of them was a 6 feet, muscular black man in a scientist garb. As it turned to a black ensemble, his dark eyes were focused on Paul, a predatory smile on his lips as he saw Paul finishing the battle. His bald head shone with the light of the monitors and the several cut marks all over his face. Next to him was a red and yellow behemoth with cannon like arms and flames on its head and shoulders, a Magmortar, the evolved form of Magmar.

And the last member of the team was a woman; office attire adorned her spectacular figure, her long purple hair making her more alluring and otherworldly, and her violet eyes stared at Maya's screen emotionlessly. Next to her, there was a Gothic Lolita-like Pokémon, a Gothitelle.

"Interesting bunch, don't you think so, Dante?" The black man said to the blond. His companion didn't even bother to look his way.

"They are obviously rookies, but they showed to be very capable and have the potential to be threats. Even if they don't have that much raw power, they managed to pull some interesting tricks. Kane, we should not let them unchecked or else they could be dangerous" That's what the red eyed man said seriously. The purple haired girl, now in a gray ensemble that involved a helmet covering the upper half of her face scoffed.

"Let them grow, they are nothing more than a nuisance. If they ever become dangerous, I will crush them without trouble" She said, her eyes glowing dangerously.

"Eager to get your hands dirty, eh? Helena you cold demon" Kane laughed, and then licked his lips in anticipation to spill those kid's blood. It would be a show to see them shrink in fear and to see their faces stuck on that expression forever, he could barely wait.

In the lab

Tom has just finished explaining his findings to Paul and Maya, who suddenly looked very solemn, staring at the cups of tea that Birch served them. Maya looked spooked, the dimensions of the whole thing hitting her like a freight train. Paul on the other hand had yet to show any emotion, his stoicism being everything Tom needed to know his thoughts.

"So someone hypnotized innocent people, forcing them to be part of an evil team and do Arceus-knows-what, finally handing innocent men to jail?" Maya summarized, looking horrified at the prospect, and of the fact that she just knocked out an innocent. Tom nodded his face expressionless.

"Pretty much" It was all he said. Paul looked to be deep in thought, solving a puzzle on his mind.

"Now that you mention it, none of those guys said a word during the battles, and the second Pokémon was already there when we got them in the chase. This really looks bad"

"Emma told me those guys had no emotions after the battle, and after the man fell unconscious, his emotions came back. Who would do something like that?"

"I don't know but this is big. Be ready for a bumpy road from now on" Tom's voice seemed confident and serious, but Maya could tell he was scared, but kept the façade for her and Paul. Suddenly they heard footsteps coming towards them.

"Birch's coming. Act natural" Paul said.

"So, who won the League's finals?" Tom asked, acting as relaxed as he could.

"Alexandra won in the end, thought you saw it" Maya said, the lightheartedness suddenly coming back, at least partially.

"Got sent to bed when Luke's Dusclops slipped" He said, nonchalantly.

"You don't seem to care much" Paul commented.

"The guy I was rooting for got knocked down on quarterfinals" He admitted, the act being real for them in a second. The professor brought their pokeballs, and two devices like Tom's but those were red and green. He handed the red one to Paul and the green one to Maya.

"These are Pokémon Digital Encyclopedias, or Pokédex, they have information of any Pokémon you may find, and it can record anything you see on your trip, they can also detect the other DexHolders by emitting a signal, letting you know where your friends are as long as you don't lose it" He also handed them five pokeballs to each of them, along with their healed ones. The three of them left their parties out, checking on them as they talked.

"(So this is it, the Journey for the league starts tomorrow)" Cain said, smiling sadly.

"(The day has come. Let's make it a good run)" Emma said. Alec smirked.

"(Try to not get left behind)" He teased. Cain glared.

"(Don't try me, Plug-Head)" The dog growled. Alec was on his face in a second.

"(Want to prove anything, Fluffy)" The both of them glared, electricity forming on the air.

"Guys, knock it off!" Tom screamed. That's how the day ended.

Three new Pokémon.

Three inseparable friends.

Three admins with their eyes on them.

One dream they all try to reach.


End file.
